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Outfitting for road trips

In anticipation of the upcoming trip to NM, I?m curious to know what some of you experienced road warriors pack in the Z8 for long excursions. I?m building a checklist, and most things are obvious. However, since storage space is, shall we say, limited, I want to make sure I don?t have too much or too little.

This is a good time to reawken this thread with so many of us packing our cars for the Monterey and Napa adventure.

I'd suggest that everyone should being a bottle of Castrol 10-60, and also a couple of cans of that 'tire goo' stuff just incase. We are never far from help in California, so your AAA card is also a good thing to bring.

For the coast bring lots of layers for you and your co-pilot, as it is chilly early and late with the fogs, and can be very hot in the middle of the day, possibly reaching the 90's in Napa, so stiff wide brim hats are better than baseball caps.

Andrew Macpherson

Expert Z8 Inspections, with full support for both Z8 sale and purchases.

I'm bringing a spare serpentine belt. (Mine was replaced at 35K - I was amazed how deteriorated it was, and asked Classic to sell me a spare for the group and put it in my trunk). I also carry fix-a-flat, quart of oil, glass wipes, sun screen and spare sunglasses. For this trip, I've added a few small tools (torx, allen, etc.), a CB walkie talkie, a pair of FRS radios, an emergency beacon strobe light, a flash light, a 12v powered air compressor, a tire guage, "Friends of BMW" handbook directory, and of course, some duct tape. All this stuff plus the tools and first aid kit that came with the car fits under the removable trunk floor. I'm going to pick up a small fire extinguisher. It may not fit.

I'm not really that paranoid, but I do enjoy being prepared, so if you need anything that week, let me know.

I generally travel with a few gadgets, many of which are incorporated into my new 3G iPhone. None the less, I'll take a separate dash mount GPS (with hands free Bluetooth), a better camera, etc. Don't forget your chargers, spare batteries, extra camera memory cards, etc.)

Regarding the quart of oil......

I will share my recent experience that occurred at the end of LAST WEEK. Long post -- sorry.

A few months ago, I purchased one of those nice decorative BMW nylon sleeves to keep an extra quart of oil in. Got and put a quart in the sleeve and place it on it's side inside the trunk compartment where you keep the tools, battery, etc.

I had the Z8 in at the local shop last week for a few last minute tweeks before this major road trip. I previously have been using the BMW recommended 5w30 the whole time but after re-reading the posts on the oil, talking to Jurgen in Monaco, and looking at a friend of mine's 540 (who had to pull his vanos for some repairs), I was amazed at the brown discoloration inside the engine. So... I had the mechanic change out to the BMW TSW 10w60 and provide me with and extra quart.

When I got it home, I lifted that trunk lid compartment and pulled out the sleeve. The whole thing was dripping oil and the container was nearly empty! Where did it all go?? It saturated the carpet in that compartment, soaked through and filled the battery well deep enough with oil to completely cover the electrical wiring harness that attaches to the battery, then out to several switches and relays as well as many other wires coming out of that trunk!!

Nevertheless, as electricity passes through any wire, insulated or not, it produces heat. As such, with several of the metal contacts exposed and covered with oil, this was an obvious FIRE HAZARD that had to be corrected immediately. I took it back to the dealer, who made quick work of the oil after sucking it out with a wet vac (which by the way, only sucks the oil into the hose and not into the container as it is too heavy - when you shut off the suction, the oil will drain back out of the hose!)

After getting as much out that way, the battery was removed along with everything else in that compartment including the carpet. They then saturated it all with Brake Cleaner solvent, which made quick work of the remaining oil on the surfaces of all the wiring, compartment walls. The Solvent was then allowed to evaporate (not very Green but effective) and no more oil.

The problem was the carpeted piece. It was history. Now... being one week away from the trip and just at 2 weeks from Monterey, what would I do without that carpet piece? I called Bill Stuart, who with Dana Caldwell's help, a spare part was ordered within 24 hours and was on it's way from Germany to Peter Pan!!! And Bill tracked it and got it through customs without a hitch and .... It arrived yesterday !!

Plan now is for Dana to install the carpet piece in the trunk compartment Monday or Tuesday when my car arrives at Peter Pan and Abrakadabra -- problem solved!!

Wonderful help from two great guys (Bill and Dana) as well as my BMW of Tulsa guys (Mike W, Mike K. and Tony H.) if it were not for that stellar service, my Z8 might just be sitting this trip out!

On a side note: Mike W at BMW of Tulsa decided to see if he could be that carpet piece clean -- he soaked it submerged in a 55 gal drum of the Brake Cleaner solvent for 24 hours. Amazing stuff and degreaser.... it got 99% of the oil out! But, just enough of an oil residue on the finger tips to make me still want to replace but again -- great effort!!

Now, for anyone wanting to store and extra quart of oil... Since it can not be stored upright in that compartment, I would put the quart container in a heavy duty GALLON size Zip lock bag, express as much air as you can out of it before sealing it, and store it as upright as possible (bottom in the deepest part of that well), just in case it leaks. If it does leak, well hopefully the zip lock will keep it contained. This is what I am doing but in between trips, I am not going to store any oil in there regularly -- just in case.

Glad to be of service so others can learn from....

my mistakes!!

No, the container did not get punctured, it leaked around the cap! It seemed tight but maybe with the heat in the trunk and laying on it's side, the oil expanded enough to rupture the seal. It was leaking around the tight cap.

Maybe a good test would be before putting any container of oil in that compartment, best to lay in somewhere in the garage on it's side or upside down for several days, just to make sure it does not leak before putting it in your car. That is what I did after the above AND I put it in a Zip lock bag too!!

just an update, the Z8 Club luggage worked GREAT for the Roadtrip from Oklahoma to Dallas for the 10th Anniversary Celebration!! Thank you J?ergen and Sylvi for making that group purchase happen.

For those who still need luggage, no more is available through the club but Z8 specific luggage set is available through Roadsterbag at here. The Z8 bags are not specified but they do make them and if you send them an email, you will be able to purchase them and they have an on-going group discount for the Z8 bags too for those interested. See the luggage thread on this site for more information.

Driver and passenger skin care are also an essential part of convertible driving.

Sadly Melanoma has raised it's ugly head quite a lot in our little community lately, so I wanted to share this info I just got from my dermatologist.

Sunscreens are not the panacea that they would like you to believe they are, but of the bunch Neutrogena Ultra Sheer and Banana Boat get the highest marks.

There is a company that sells actual sun proofed clothing, highly recommended for long days with the top down - www.mott50.com
I have already emailed them to get a quote for a group buy, and last year Ian showed me some stunning logo designs that I've been itching to use, so I'll keep that on the front burner.

Being as sensitive to the sun as I am I can attest to the Neutrogena products - look for the ingredient helioplex. It's great stuff and not all sticky like other products. www.sunprecautions.com is also good for sunwear.